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A BIRMINGHAM MP has launched a last-ditch attempt to prevent 150ft-high permanent floodlights being installed at Edgbaston cricket ground.

Roger Godsiff urged the city council cabinet to refuse a £20 million loan to Warwickshire County Cricket Club.

The money is needed to bridge a funding gap and allow a £32 million redevelopment of the 100-year-old Test match arena to go ahead.

But Mr Godsiff (Lab, Sparkbrook & Small Heath) said the council should only hand over the money if the club agreed to have retractable floodlights, which would be taken down when they were not being used.

A similar arrangement is in place at Lord’s, where nearby residents successfully complained that permanent floodlights would ruin the landscape and their views.

Birmingham’s planning committee gave approval last month for the Edgbaston redevelopment, which will also include new stands, pavilion, media and hospitality centres and housing. The Government refused to order a public inquiry, after deciding the ground plan was a local matter that could be determined by the city council.

But the project is only likely to go ahead if the cricket club succeeds in obtaining a loan from the council. The city council cabinet has agreed the loan in principle, but the matter is to be reconsidered later this month following objections from a scrutiny committee.

Mr Godsiff said: “The ball is now firmly in the court of the council.

“They have it in their power to stop the erection of these five 150ft-high permanent floodlight pylons.

“Edgbaston would fully meet the criteria for Test grounds by having permanent floodlight bases and retractable floodlights like those at Lord’s.”

Warwickshire chief executive Colin Povey said retractable floodlights would not be suitable for Edgbaston.